Cheating
by DrummerDancer
Summary: There was no way Roy was this bad at cards.


Title: Cheating  
Author: drummerdancer  
Verse: None  
Characters/Pairings: Roy, Edward  
Word Count: 904  
Prompt 245: Luck of the Draw  
Rating: T  
Summary: There was no way Roy was_ this bad_ at cards.

* * *

"Got any sevens?"

"Nope, go fish."

Roy gritted his teeth in aggravation. This was the fourth round in a row that Edward had declined to show his cards, and he was sure that that wasn't possible. At this point, he could reach no other conclusions; he was being cheated.

"Are you _sure_ you don't have _any _sevens?" Roy asked, eyeing the blond suspiciously from above his cards. The boy in question shook his head casually and gave the older man a look of feigned confusion, as if the thought of cheating the Colonel had never occurred to him.

Or he simply had a really good poker face. Roy couldn't tell, and he refused to voice his suspicions in case Ed decided to mock him for being bad at cards.

He drew a card from the top of the stack, being oh so very careful not to let the other alchemist catch a peek. The little brat didn't need any more advantages than he already had.

"Got any fours?" Ed asked cockily, his face smug as Roy swore. Of all the cards in his hand…Roy grumbled some more as he handed two cards over to a still grinning Ed. This was not looking good. Ed had a total of five stacks on the coffee table in his office while he had…two.

Which meant Ed was winning.

Which meant he was _losing._

Thankfully, Ed was forced to draw after his second question. He always took his time about this, feeling the need to stretch the time out or whatnot, Roy didn't know. Ed folded his hand of cards together in both hands, palms flush against each other, before he unfolded them and reached out to take another card. Roy supposed it was some kind of weird trick or good luck thing he had learned while traveling but refused to try it to improve his own odds.

"Alright! I got all the fours!" he exclaimed, laying down a hand of fours in all suits. Roy flinched; that made six for the blond.

"It's not polite to gloat, Fullmetal," Roy scolded, feeling his chances of winning slipping further and further from his grasp. He needed to turn things around quickly.

He got a five from Edward his next turn, earning him his third discard on the table. His glee was short-lived though; his next question was once again met with a 'go fish'.

Roy drew his next card and froze in confusion. _Wha…?_

Realization dawned on him almost immediately. He frowned at his companion in fierce disapproval.

"So you _are_ cheating. I knew it."

Edward pretended to look confused. "What? Can't accept the fact I'm better than you in more ways than one?"

"Don't play dumb, Fullmetal." Roy flipped his card around. "You and I both know there aren't two four of spades in a regular deck."

Edward's poker face may have been infallible, but Roy knew the second Ed saw the card that the act was up. For the most part, the blond kept his mask in place; however, Roy was the expert at reading people and he could tell right away that the corners were cracking.

"Wha—what makes you think that was _me?"_

"Well it certainly _wasn't_ me considering that I'm losing."

Edward pouted, then pretended to get angry. "Oh, so I get it! Just because I'm whipping your ass, that makes this _my fault?_ How do you know that's not just an extra from a different deck?"

"Edward, we counted the cards earlier. There's only fifty-two here."

"So?" Ed crossed his arms. "I've just got the luck of the draw on my side."

"The luck of the…?" Roy rubbed his forehead in exasperation. "Edward, you've clearly been cheating! I don't know how…" He stopped, the memory of how Ed drew cards coming full force back into his conscious. "You…you've been changing the numbers on the cards you've drawn, haven't you?"

At this, an expression of guilt began to creep onto the younger boy's face. His mask was falling down, exposing an ugly truth that Roy was furious to see.

Edward Elric cheated at cards.

"That's it; I'm done," Roy sighed, throwing his cards into the center of the table.

Edward looked horrified. "No, wait! Okay I admit it! But please, you can't quit! Nobody else will play with me, not even Al or Winry—"

"—because you cheat—"

"And-and, I promise I won't do it again, honest! Pleeeaaassseee?"

Roy couldn't believe this. Hearing Ed beg to play a simple game…

"Well…" he knew he was going to regret this later, "I guess…one more game wouldn't hurt."

Edward smiled and began to fix the deck, changing the numbers all back to what they were supposed be, all the while blabbering on and on that _this time, _he was going to kick Mustang's ass fair and square, no cheating, nothing. But Roy hardly heard any of it as his gaze went pointedly to stare at Edward's coat, or more specifically, Ed's right sleeve, which had slightly raised up due to him manhandling all the cards. The point where the glove ended and the automail began was exposed, giving Roy a clear view of what appeared to be…

Cards, a whole deck of them, tied directly to Ed's metal arm.

He groaned; he was going to have to have a long talk with the alchemist about what 'fair play' really meant.


End file.
